Social media rewards are like food, sex: study

WASHINGTON: Posting views on Facebook and other social media sites delivers a powerful reward to the brain similar to the pleasure from food and sex, a Harvard study concludes. The study led by two neuroscientists and published this week concluded that "self disclosure" produces a response in the region of the brain associated with dopamine, a chemical associated with pleasure or the anticipation of a reward. The researchers said most people devote 30 to 40 per cent of their speech to "informing others of their own subjective experiences" but that on social media, this is closer to 80 per cent. They conclude "that humans so willingly self-disclose because doing so represents an event with intrinsic value, in the same way as with primary rewards such as food and sex." Although Facebook was not specifically cited in the study, it focused on the brain response of people's "op...